Page 41 - Philly Girl

Philly Girl 25

Sweet Sixteen

and Finally Been Kissed

A good father and a good first boyfriend can set you up
for a lifetime of trusting and loving men. I was lucky that
way—and the feelings I have for my husband and two sons
are testament to this. My father was a good husband to my
mother and a trustworthy father to me. And I was ready for
my first real boyfriend: Bobby. He was romantic and kind
and sexy as hell—and, boy, could he sing Motown. He wrote
a poem about us for my sixteenth birthday and read it aloud
at my Sweet Sixteen party, in front of a captive audience of
35 guests: 16-year-old girls and some of their moms.

“We met in the Catskill Mountains
Amidst beautiful flowers and fountains… ”

He really wrote “amidst.” I loved him for that, and for
his bravery in reading the poem aloud. That day, Bobby also
gave me a lovely gift: an ankle bracelet. My guests all loved
him, cheered him when he recited the poem and when he
presented me with the gift publicly. He had taken three
buses to get to the restaurant.
I met him at Brown’s Resort in the Catskills. Our chem-
istry was instantaneous. He was a year younger than me, and
so I hesitated. When you’re a teenager, that year looms large!
But he pursued me aggressively. And I loved when he sang
along with the jukebox. We slow-danced. He gave me my
first French kiss. Decades later, I can still conjure up those